The inventor has registered this invention under Disclosure Document No. 371091 on Feb. 27, 1995.
There are a variety of sports and games where the players foot is used to kick or to catch and toss a small ball, shuttlecock, or footbag. Other objects such as rocks, golf balls, ping pong balls and any other relatively small object can be utilized. The most popular form of this type of sport or game is xe2x80x9cFootbagxe2x80x9d.There are footbag tournaments, footbag magazines and various other activites associated with the sport. It can be played by one person alone or in groups or teams, in circles or across nets.
A footbag is a small, pliable, ball-like object with little or no bounce. Cover materials may vary considerably, but most are filled with light-weight, plastic pellets or with sand. Cover designs range from seamless one-piece to internally hand stitched, multi-panel patterns. Although footbag dimensions vary according to their intended use, they are generally about 2xe2x80x3 in diameter and weigh just over an ounce. Although the concept of using the feet to keep an object aloft, as a game, can be traced as far back as 2500 BC in Mainland China, it wasn""t until 1972, in Portland, Oreg. that footbag, as it is known today, really began its growth. Footbag can also be played using a xe2x80x9ckoosh ballxe2x80x9d, which is made of many pieces of elastic rubber strips protruding approximately 1xe2x80x3 from a central rubber ball.
Footbag freestyle is normally played co-operatively with the players forming a circle to involve everyone equally and, although a player may use any part of the body to xe2x80x9cstallxe2x80x9d the footbag, it is mainly played by using the feet, and by so doing, perform various tricks before passing it on. The footbag may not come in contact with the forearm (from the elbow to the fingertips) while it is in play. The hands may only be used to retrieve and to serve the footbag. The footbag is also often played by kicking it rather than stalling and tossing it.
Players have, until now, used an assortment of regular shoes, athletic shoes, sandals or even their bare feet to play footbag. As footbag is mostly a foot-eye coordination game, the player had to locate the contact points, or target areas on the foot-wear or feet, in order to make contact with the footbag. As these surfaces are undefined as to their precise visual and physical location, they are difficult to locate and, because of their irregular surface area, it is difficult to control the direction of the footbag, thus making the game difficult to play, especially for the novice.
The choice of foot-wear most individual freestyle championship entrants use, is the xe2x80x9cAdidas-Rod Laverxe2x80x9d tennis shoe, which, even though it has a wide tongue surface area, still has certain disadvantages, namely that the stitching on the eye-tabs has to be cut with a blade in order to expose and enlarge the tongue area, in order that it may function as a catching and stalling surface. Because of the smooth surface of the shoe there is a limit to the number of tricks that can be performed, also, because the contact points or target areas are undefined, it is difficult for players to locate these points when the footbag is in play. Another disadvantage is that the lace bows are unsecured and they tend to flop around during play and can be disruptive to the player and even cause the footbag to be deflected.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the invention are as follows:
To provide physical concave pad target areas adapted to be attached directly to the feet, to footwear or manufactured as a part of the footwear, to improve a player""s ability to catch and toss the playing device. In a preferred embodiment these target areas may be located on the outside of the foot, from the ankle to over the fifth metatarsal, projecting from the sole next to the small toe, on the toe area, on the tongue area, on the instep, over the big toe, on the heel, and on the outside of the foot. These areas are physically defined with upturned edges and visually defined with shadows which make them easier for the player to see and locate. As the game of footbag is mainly a foot-eye coordination game which requires the player to locate these certain points on the foot in order to kick and to stall the footbag, the above described target pads will enhance the ability to play.
Another object of the invention is to provide a larger surface area of pads compared to catching surfaces in the prior art to make it easier for the player to make contact with the footbag or other playing object.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide pads, which may be brightly colored thus enhancing their visibility and by so doing make it easier for the player to make contact with the playing object.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide prominent concave surfaces of the pads which make it easier for the player to control the direction of the object when kicking it and make it easier for the player to xe2x80x9ccatchxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cstallxe2x80x9d the object.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a protruded and extended shape of some of the surfaces of the pads, to allow new and more complex tricks and games to be performed, thus advancing the game.
Still another object of the invention, in the case of known footbag sports, such as footbag net, footbag golf, footbag consecutive and footbag freestyle, is to provide pads which are shaped and positioned to best serve the various kicks and stalls used in each sport.
Still another object of the invention is to provide pads which are interchangeable, thereby allowing players to customize their own footwear.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide pads which could be attached to the feet directly in order to be able to play bare-footed or to be attached to footwear, such as sandals, making the sporting footwear lighter and cooler or to provide pads which could be attached to an adjustable harness or xe2x80x9cspatxe2x80x9d which could fit a variety of footwear.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.